Hoist apparatus



April 1962 G. c. CORLEY 3,028,017

HOIST APPARATUS Filed Oct. 19, 1959 IN VEN TOR.

United States Patent 3,028,017 HOIST APPARATUS Gale C. Corley, 1207 Beech St., Valparaiso, Ind. Filed Oct. 19, 1959, Ser. No. 847,422 9 Claims. (Cl. 212-58) This invention relates generally to hoisting apparatus and more particularly to apparatus for reducing the swinging action of loads being hoisted by cranes, derricks and the like.

In the construction industry mobile cranes equipped with long booms are often used for hoisting and moving construction materials at erection sites. It is customary to station such a crane at a convenient location where most of the material transporting can be accomplished by pivoting the crane on its carriage. Due to the swing of the crane boom, an undesirable oscillatory or swinging motion is imparted to the material suspended beneath the outer end of the boom. A a result, time is lost waiting for the hoisted material to cease swaying to and fro before it may be lowered with sufiicient accuracy into its desired position.

To overcome this problem one or more loose trailing tag lines have been attached to the suspended material so that assistance could be given to the crane operator in lowering the material into position. These tag lines are handled by men who pay out or take in the loose lines as needed, thereby manually controlling the tendency of the load to swing. Such use of man power is extremely expensive and mechanical means for automatically preventing suspended material from swinging, thereby saving time and labor cost, is desired.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide simple and inexpensive apparatus which dampens the swinging motion of loads suspended from hoist booms.

Another object is to provide an anti-swing device for construction cranes operable without power machinery and which may be installed as an accessory item to existing crane structures.

A further object is to provide a universal antiswing device which will reduce the amplitude of swing of material suspended from a crane regardless of the elevation and direction of swing of the material.

A feature of the invention is the provision of a crane hoist having a tag line connected to the load carrying member and supported at a point spaced laterally from the hoist boom and resisting movement of the load transversely with respect to the boom.

Another feature is the provision of self-adjustable tag line rigging afiixed to a hoisting hook which exerts dampening tension thereon in a plane substantially at right angles to the hoist boom. The rigging may include a running tag line suspended from a pulley hung from the outer end of the cross member and tensioned by a weight, or may include a spring for providing tension.

A further feature is the provision of a belt-like link member slidably encircling a weight tensioned tag line and adapted to move with the weight to dampen swinging movement of the weight as well as to increase the tensioning angle between the tag line and hoist line.

In the accompanying drawing:

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a mobile crane equipped with anti-swing rigging in accordance with the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating a modification in the rigging of the anti-swing device of the invention;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary perspective view illustrating another embodiment of the invention; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary view illustrating a spring tensioned tag line.

3,928,617 Patented Apr. 3, 1962 In accordance with the invention, a crane with a hoist boom having a line extending therefrom for lifting a load has an elongated support attached to the boom and extending at right angles thereto. A tag line rigging runs from a load carrying member to a point on the support spaced laterally from the load line. A weight may be provided on the tag line to supply tension force to a portion of the rigging coupled to the load to exert a dampening force when the suspended load swings at right angles to the boom. The rigging is self-adjusting to all vertical positions of the load and friction in the rigging slows the movement of the tag line. A horizontal sliding link may be provided which encircles the rigging to increase the angle at which dampening force is applied to the load as the load is raised, to dampen longitudinal sway of the rigging, and to increase the running friction of the rigging. Alternately the tension in the tag line may be provided by a spring which resists swinging movement and dampens the same while still allowing vertical movement of the load.

. Referring now to the drawing, FIG. 1 shows in simplified form a mobile crane of the type customarily employed at construction sites. A wheeled carriage 10 supports a revolving frame 11 mounted for rotation on a vertical axis. The frame carries hoisting machinery enclosed in a cab 12. A long hoist boom 13 is pivotally mounted at its lower end on frame 11 and may be lowered or raised by means of a boom suspension cable 14. The upper end of boom 13 supports a pulley 16 over which is reeved a hoist cable or line 17. The working end of hoist line 17 carries a weighted swivel ball 18 and a hook 19 for use in hoisting construction material such as the prefabricated wall panel 20. A power operated tag line 21 may be connected at its working end to a hoisting fixture 22.

The simplified structure described thus far is entirely conventional and its operation well understood in the art. Consequently no detailed description thereof is believed necessary except to note that such hoisting apparatus, without further structure provided in accordance with the invention, allows undesirable side to side swinging of material suspended from the hook 19, as indicated by the arrows. However, as long as tension is maintained on tag line 21, the suspended material will be held from swinging in or out in the longitudinal plane defined by hoist line 17 and boom 13.

In order to prevent the aforementioned side to side or lateral oscillations, anti-swing apparatus in accordance with the invention is attached near the upper end of boom 13. This includes a horizontal cross member or jib beam 23 fastened at right angles to the plane including boom 13 and line 17 running from pulley 16. In its simplest form, the rigging consists of a pulley or block 27 attached to beam 23 by hook 26 through which is strung or reeved a tag line 28. The working end of tage line 28 is affixed to swivel ball 18 of hook 19 by means of a hook and eye assembly 29 while the other end of line 28 carries a weight 31. The weight 31 is lighter in weight than the ball 18 to insure dropping of hook 19 when unloaded.

An endless belt or strap 32 may encircle the portions of tag line 28 which extend from either side of block 27, and is affixed at one end to the Weight 31 so as to form a sliding link movable vertically therewith. It is to be noted that the vertical portion of hoist line 17, the jib 23, the running portions of tag line 28 and the sliding link 32 are disposed generally in a lateral plane at right angles to the longitudinal plane of boom 13 and hoist line 17.

The beam 23 may extend beyond boom 13 on the side opposite pulley 27 and carry a weight 24 which 3 counter-balances the laterally disposed anti-swing rigging suspended from hook 26. The beam 23 need not have a portion extending on the opposite side of the boom if the boom is sufficiently rigid to resist the twisting force applied by the anti-swing rigging.

In operation, hoist line 17 is payed out so as to lower hook 19 to the object to be hoisted. The working end of tag line 28 runs downward to accommodate this vertical travel, the counter weight 31 moving opposite to the movement of hook 19 and thus upward toward pulley 27. The amount of vertical travel required in a particular hoisting operation determines the length of line 23. If it is desired to shorten the amount of vertical travel of counterweight 3-1 so that the lowest position of weight 31 will not interfere with fully hoisted material, then the fixed end of tag line 28 can be secured to jib 23 and a suitable weighted pulley suspended intermediate pulley 27 and the fixed end. Other changes of the rigging to accommodate various working conditions will undoubtedly occur to those skilled in the art without varying from the concept of the invention.

The material to be hoisted, such as the wall panel 20, is then secured to hook 19 by means of fixture 22. When the material is to be elevated without lateral displacement, a swinging motion may result. This may be produced by various causes such as wind blowing against the panel. This condition is aggravated when it is necessary to move the material laterally as well as vertically from its original location to the point of placement. This may be done by rotating the cab 12 and boom 13 on the carriage of the crane so that the material moves in an are about the vertical axis of the crane. Acceleration and deceleration forces, tangential to the arc of movement of the material, are exerted on the suspended material in starting and stopping this rotation of the crane. Reaction forces in turn induce undesirable lateral swinging movement in the direction of the arrows in FIG. 1, but the anti-swing rigging of the invention opposes this motion so that it is immediately and effectively damped.

The dampening effect results from the lateral tension force exerted by tag line 28 on the suspended material. Although no force is provided to oppose lateral swinging movement towards weight 31, swinging movement away from weight 31 is opposed by the force necessary to raise weight 31. Intentional frictional forces are built into the rigging structure so that weight 31 drops slowly enough to slacken tag line 28 as the material swings once again toward weight 31. Thus the energy stored in raising weight 31 is expended in overcoming rigging friction. The dampening force is applied to the swinging hoist line 17 at a point as far as practical fromthe center of rotation (boom pulley 16) for maximum dampening effect.

The dampening effect is also increased by increasing the angle between the vertical portion of hoist line 17 and the portion of tag line 28 afiixed to ball 18. Sliding link 32 cooperates with the Weight 31 to increase this angle, the angle reaching a maximum in the highest position of hook 18 and the corresponding lowest position of weight 31. Since this represents the fully hoisted position of the suspended material, the dampening force is applied with maximum efficiency during most of the travel from the original position to the placement position. Depending upon working conditions, the rigging side of jib 23 may be lengthened to increase the rigging angle.

In FIG. 2, a modified form of the rigging of the invention is shown which incorporates a mechanical advantage to illustrate another inherent variable for adjusting the dampening force. Thus, tag line 28 is lengthened and, instead of its working end being secured to hook 19, it is reeved through a second pulley or block 33 connected to ball 18 and then run upwards to be atfixed to jib 23 by another book 34 spaced from hook 26. This increases the frictionof the rigging and furnishes the mechanical advantage of. a block and tackle assern bly, the rigging of FIG. 2 being merely illustrative of one form among many possible variations. In this embodiment the sliding link 36 is longer than the link 32 in order to encompass all the strands of tag line 28. The two spaced strands reeved from block 33 run through link 36 and thereby tend to prevent weight 31 from swinging longitudinally, providing a more stable rigging structure.

In FIG. 3 there is shown another embodiment of the invention which may be preferable for certain applications. The tag line 28, after passing over pulley 27 supported from beam 23, is returned to a position along the hoist boom 13. The line extends over pulleys 37 and 38 so that the weight 31 is displaced from the load. Accordingly movement of the weight as the load is moved vertically does not interfere with the other operations.

In FIG. 3, a rigid longitudinally extendible member, such as a hydraulic telescoping tube 41 can be used in place of the tag line 21 of FIG. 1. This construction can be used in any of the described embodiments of the invention. By extending tube 40, it is possible to posi-- tion the suspended material beyond a point vertically beneath the pulley 16. Tag line 28 will not interfere with such movement since it can be drawn out in any direction. A spring retarding swivel 41 is provided be}- tween ball 18 and hoist fixture 42, in place of hook 19, to prevent wall panel 20 from rotating when suspended therefrom. Considering the action of the anti-swing rig ging and the rigid positioning tube 40, it will be seen that this embodiment provides a very positive, damped system for accurately placing construction materials without manual assistance.

In FIG. 4 there is illustrated an embodiment of the invention wherein tension is provided in the anti-swing line by means of a coil spring rather than by a weight. A beam '45 extends from the boom 13 generally similar to the beam 23 of the prior embodiments. Connected between beam 45 and the ball 18 of the load carrying member is a line 46 including a coil spring 47. The coil spring 47 must have sufiicient flexibility to permit raising and lowering of the ball 18 and to not substantially dis place the ball 18 from its vertical position below pulley 16. However, when the ball 18 and load attached thereto tend to swing in a direction transverse to the beam, the tension of the spring 47 Will resist such movement and tend to return the load to its proper vertical position.

It is to be noted that the anti-swing line, as illustrated in the various embodiments, can be used to prevent swing of the load in a direction other than the transverse direction as illustrated. Further, more than one such line can be used to prevent swing in different directions. Such a line could be used to prevent swinging movement in the direction of the beam and thereby eliminate the need for tag lines such as 21 and 40 in FIGS. 1 and 3 respectively.

The constructions shown have been found to be highly effective to reduce swaying of the load being handled by a crane or hoist. The additional apparatus required does not substantially complicate the existing device and the cost is very small compared to the cost of the complete unit.

I claim:

1. Hoistingapparatus including in combination, a hoist boom, a hoist line supported by said hoist boom and including a load carrying member adapted to support a load for vertical movement, tag line means connected to said load carrying member, means extending substantially at right angles to the beam supporting said tag line means at a position spaced from the vertical plane including said hoist boom and said hoist line,'said tag line means including means resisting movement of said load carrying member in a direction transverse to said vertical plane for various vertical positions of the suspended load, to thereby dampen swinging motion of the suspended load.

2. Hoisting apparatus including in combination, a hoist boom adapted to support a load, hoist line means rigged dependently from said hoist boom and adapted to vertically displace a load secured thereto, beam means secured to said hoist boom and extending substantially perpendicular from the plane defined by said boom and said hoist line means, tag line means rigged dependently from said beam means at a point thereon spaced from said hoist line means, said tag line means being connected to the suspended load and weight means connected to said tag line means so that said tag line means exerts a pull on the load to dampen swinging motion of the load in the direction of said beam means for all vertical positions of the suspended load.

3. Rigging apparatus for stabilizing a load suspended from hoisting apparatus having a rotatable base structure for angular movement of said hoisting apparatus, an elongated hoist boom supported at one end on said base structure and extending outwardly therefrom, and a hoist line suspended from said hoist boom for lifting a load, said rigging apparatus including in combination, support means carried by said hoisting apparatus and extending to a point in a vertical plane disposed substantially at right angles to the :boom and which plane includes the load, pulley means suspended from said support means at said point, a tag line reeved about said pulley means, a counterweight connected to a first portion of said tag line extending downwardly from one side of said pulley means, and with the portion of said tag line extending from the other side of said pulley means being coupled to the load, whereby lateral swinging of the load is dampened by said tag line regardless of the vertical position of said load.

4. in a construction crane having a revolving frame rotatably supported on a carriage and a boom extending diagonnally upward from said frame with a pulley at its outer end, the combination of, a hoist line running over said pulley and having a portion extending downwardly therefrom for hoisting a load secured to the lower end of said hoist line, a horizontal jib aflixed at right angles to said boom near said pulley with portions of said jib extending from each side of said boom, a pulley suspended from one portion of said jib, a tag line reeved in said pulley and having portions extending downwardly on both sides therefrom, a weight secured to said tag line portion extending from one side of said pulley, said tag line portion extending from the opposite side of said pulley being coupled to the lower end of said hoist line, a weight secured to the other portion of said jib to counterbalance said pulley, said tag line and said counterweight, and a linking member affixed to the weighted end of said tag line and slidably encompassing said portions of said tag line to link the same.

5. Hoisting apparatus including in combination, a hoist boom, a hoist line supported by said hoist boom and adapted to support a load for vertical movement, tag line means including a pulley and a tag line extending on either side therefrom, said tag line means also including frictional means for retarding running movement thereof, means supporting said pulley at a position spaced from the vertical plane including said hoist boom and said hoist line, and weight means secured to said tag line extending on one side of said pulley, said tag line extending on the other side of said pulley being coupled to the suspended load so that said tag line means dampens swinging motion of the suspended load in a direction transverse to said vertical plane for all vertical positions of the suspended load.

6. Rigging apparatus for stabilizing a load suspended from hoisting apparatus having a base structure, an elongated hoist boom supported at one end on said base structure and extending outwardly therefrom and a hoist line suspended from said hoist boom for lifting a load, said rigging apparatus including in combination, support means carried by said hoisting apparatus and extending to a point in a vertical plane disposed substantially at right angles to the boom and which plane includes the load, first pulley means suspended from said support means at said point, a tag line strung around said pulley means, a counterweight connected to a portion of said tag line extending from one side of said pulley means, second pulley means coupled to the load, with the portion of said tag line extending from the other side of said first pulley means being strung around said second pulley means and extending therefrom and being fastened to said support means, and a linking member slidably encompassing said portions of said tag line to link the same whereby lateral swinging of the load is dampened by said tag line regardless of the vertical position of said load.

7. Hoisting apparatus for stabilizing and positioning a load suspended therefrom including in combination, a base structure, an elongated hoist boom supported at one end of said base structure and extending outwardly therefrom, a hoist line suspended from said hoist boom, hoist fixture means carried on said line and including swivel means for supporting the load and means adapted to retard rotation of said swivel means, support means carried by said hoisting apparatus and extending to a point in a vertical plane disposed substantially at right angles to said hoist boom and which plane includes the load, pulley means suspended from said support means at said point, a tag line reeved about said pulley means, a counterweight connected to a first portion of said tag line extending downwardly from one side of said pulley means, the portion of said tag line extending from the other side of said pulley means being coupled to the load, whereby lateral swinging of the load is dampened by said tag line regardless of the vertical position of said load, and an adjustable elongated positioning boom supported at one end on said base structure and connected to said hoist fixture means for positioning the load.

8. Hoisting apparatus including in combination, a hoist boom, a hoist line supported by said hoist boom and including a load carrying member adapted to support a load for vertical movement, tag line means including a pulley and a tag line having portions extending on either side therefrom, means supporting said pulley at a position spaced from the vertical plane including said hoist boom and said hoist line, and weight means secured to said portion of said tag line means extending on one side of said pulley, said portion of said tag line extending on the other side of said pulley being coupled to said load carrying member so that said tag line means dampens swing'ng motion of the suspended load in a direction transverse to said vertical plane for all vertical positions of the suspended load.

9. Hoisting apparatus including in combination, a hoist boom, a hoist line supported by said hoist boom and including a load carrying member adapted to support a load for vertical movement, tag line means connected to said load carrying member, means supporting said tag References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,805,781 Senn Sept. 10, 1957 

